deb
@debschwartz.bsky.social
#wiunion fan, poll worker, casual #mnleg observer, <3 democracy. Central MN
Formerly @DebJSchwartz on 🐦
Formerly @DebJSchwartz on 🐦
Pinned
deb
@debschwartz.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Let's not endow software engineers on a barely running site with mystical powers. The engineering that suppressed the vote was social engineering.
Gonna start seeding little free libraries with copies of 'On Tyranny' and 'Run for Something'
Reposted by deb
Some 💩 went down at SSA today, and it’s not great so let’s talk about it 🫠 TLDR version: effective 7/3, 40-50% of the CSR (customer service rep) staff will be reassigned to answering the national 1800#. This decision was made without input from any regional, area, or teleservice center leadership.
July 2, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Some 💩 went down at SSA today, and it’s not great so let’s talk about it 🫠 TLDR version: effective 7/3, 40-50% of the CSR (customer service rep) staff will be reassigned to answering the national 1800#. This decision was made without input from any regional, area, or teleservice center leadership.
Reposted by deb
This is what breaking SSA looks like, y’all. That’s what they are doing with these changes. They don’t just want the agency to fail. They want us, the federal employees specifically, to fail. They want you to be mad enough at us that you don’t care when they dismantle it completely. 19/?
July 2, 2025 at 3:45 AM
This is what breaking SSA looks like, y’all. That’s what they are doing with these changes. They don’t just want the agency to fail. They want us, the federal employees specifically, to fail. They want you to be mad enough at us that you don’t care when they dismantle it completely. 19/?
Reposted by deb
🚨 My latest: Former biosecurity officials say Trump's actions are gutting America's defense against pandemics. Axing mRNA vaccines agst bird flu is just the latest step.
"No other country will come to our rescue and we will suffer greatly,” one of them told me.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"No other country will come to our rescue and we will suffer greatly,” one of them told me.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
In Axing mRNA Contract, Trump Delivers Another Blow to US Biosecurity, Former Officials Say - KFF Health News
The Trump administration is eroding national pandemic flu defenses as it guts health agencies, cuts research and health budgets, and withdraws funding for bird flu vaccines, health security experts sa...
kffhealthnews.org
June 6, 2025 at 2:30 PM
🚨 My latest: Former biosecurity officials say Trump's actions are gutting America's defense against pandemics. Axing mRNA vaccines agst bird flu is just the latest step.
"No other country will come to our rescue and we will suffer greatly,” one of them told me.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"No other country will come to our rescue and we will suffer greatly,” one of them told me.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Reposted by deb
Federal judge blocks Trump's takeover of U.S. Institute of Peace www.npr.org/2025/05/19/g...
Federal judge blocks Trump's takeover of U.S. Institute of Peace
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled the USIP president and board members were unlawfully fired by President Trump and should be reinstated.
www.npr.org
May 19, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Federal judge blocks Trump's takeover of U.S. Institute of Peace www.npr.org/2025/05/19/g...
Reposted by deb
New from me: Everything feels overwhelming. But here is a tangible thing you can do: write a comment to oppose Trump's plan to convert 50,000 career civil servants into political appointees. Deadline is May 23. Please share!
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/here-is-a-...
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/here-is-a-...
Here is a specific thing you can do to fight Trump's politicization of public services
Plus: what I wrote in Science about the revised Schedule F
donmoynihan.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 12:33 PM
New from me: Everything feels overwhelming. But here is a tangible thing you can do: write a comment to oppose Trump's plan to convert 50,000 career civil servants into political appointees. Deadline is May 23. Please share!
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/here-is-a-...
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/here-is-a-...
Reposted by deb
Write to your *state level* elected representatives. Warn them that this attack is coming. Let's get ahead of this.
⚠️ State gov workers WATCH OUT
DOGE is coming for your data. They are not just stealing from federal systems anymore. Time to resist the pressure they are putting on state governments.
www.metacurity.com/trump-eo-giv...
DOGE is coming for your data. They are not just stealing from federal systems anymore. Time to resist the pressure they are putting on state governments.
www.metacurity.com/trump-eo-giv...
Trump EO gives DOGE access to all federal systems, targets states, and injects cybersecurity risks
Following a Trump EO, OMB told all US agencies to provide DOGE with expansive data on and access to all databases, systems, and technologies. Experts say this effort threatens federal programs, jeopar...
www.metacurity.com
May 5, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Write to your *state level* elected representatives. Warn them that this attack is coming. Let's get ahead of this.
Reposted by deb
ok so for my sins i found the book and read the chapter, and it features a specious anecdote about louis pasteur confessing on his deathbed that germ theory was wrong all along. it's sourced from a book called "virus mania."
![On his deathbed, the victorious Pasteur is said to have recanted,
"Béchamp was right," declaring,
"the microbe is nothing. The terrain is everything."44 Miasma theory survives in marginalized, yet vibrant, pockets among integrative and functional medicine practition-ers. And burgeoning science documenting the critical role of the microbiome in human health and immunity tends to vindicate Bé-champ, and particularly his teachings that microorganisms are beneficial to good health. Köhnlein and Engelbrecht observe that:
[But] even for mainstream medi-cine, it is becoming increasingly clear that the biological terrain of our intestines-the intestinal flora, teeming with bacteria [or weighing up to 1 kg in a normal adult](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:z233fl2onqt7wbjkolynhsi3/bafkreige6b5a4ah2a6ai6wyxxu2mz6ggak4xjk5khl57x3crlar37hkyxu@jpeg)
May 2, 2025 at 2:05 AM
ok so for my sins i found the book and read the chapter, and it features a specious anecdote about louis pasteur confessing on his deathbed that germ theory was wrong all along. it's sourced from a book called "virus mania."
Reposted by deb
Minnesota Republicans held a press conference last week claiming that a program allowing undocumented people to receive MinnesotaCare would cost MN over $600 million over four years.
State data show the figure is a wild exaggeration, however.
State data show the figure is a wild exaggeration, however.
How much is Minnesota paying for undocumented people accessing MinnesotaCare? • Minnesota Reformer
Minnesota Republicans held a press conference last week claiming that a program allowing undocumented people to receive free or discounted health insurance would cost the state over $600 million over ...
minnesotareformer.com
April 30, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Minnesota Republicans held a press conference last week claiming that a program allowing undocumented people to receive MinnesotaCare would cost MN over $600 million over four years.
State data show the figure is a wild exaggeration, however.
State data show the figure is a wild exaggeration, however.
Reposted by deb
New at Can We Still Govern: An anonymous NIH employee maps out the GOP budget gameplan to permanently gut our most important science agency.
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
The NIH budget is on a fast track to disaster
An NIH insider explains what Republicans are likely to do next, and what we can do
donmoynihan.substack.com
April 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
New at Can We Still Govern: An anonymous NIH employee maps out the GOP budget gameplan to permanently gut our most important science agency.
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
Reposted by deb
We have a new landing page for you. We shipped the first version of the site in 5 days in February and our (lack of) design showed.
Thanks to our fantastic product designer, we made the leap into "thoughtfully designed."
Take a look ➡️ wethebuilders.org
Thanks to our fantastic product designer, we made the leap into "thoughtfully designed."
Take a look ➡️ wethebuilders.org
April 29, 2025 at 3:10 AM
We have a new landing page for you. We shipped the first version of the site in 5 days in February and our (lack of) design showed.
Thanks to our fantastic product designer, we made the leap into "thoughtfully designed."
Take a look ➡️ wethebuilders.org
Thanks to our fantastic product designer, we made the leap into "thoughtfully designed."
Take a look ➡️ wethebuilders.org
Reposted by deb
Here’s the show. Please watch!
It’s all about HHS and the first segment is about NIH.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H34...
It’s all about HHS and the first segment is about NIH.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H34...
RFK Jr. & HHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
YouTube video by LastWeekTonight
www.youtube.com
April 28, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Here’s the show. Please watch!
It’s all about HHS and the first segment is about NIH.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H34...
It’s all about HHS and the first segment is about NIH.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H34...
Reposted by deb
"18F worked just how Musk and his team pretend that they want government to work. But when his team found it, they destroyed it." — @waldo.net
100 days of DOGE: lots of chaos, not so much efficiency
At the Social Security Administration, lawyers, statisticians and other high-ranking agency officials are being sent from the Baltimore headquarters to regional offices to replace veteran claims processors who have been fired or taken buyouts from the Trump administration.
www.reuters.com
April 25, 2025 at 3:39 AM
"18F worked just how Musk and his team pretend that they want government to work. But when his team found it, they destroyed it." — @waldo.net
Reposted by deb
NEW: The total loss of NOAA’s office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research —a nerve center of global climate science, data collection and modeling — represents a setback for climate preparedness that experts warn the nation may never recover from.
By @abrahm.bsky.social
By @abrahm.bsky.social
White House Proposal Could Gut Climate Modeling the World Depends On
Potential funding cuts for NOAA and its research partners threaten irreparable harm not only to climate research but to American safety, competitiveness, and national security.
www.propublica.org
April 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM
NEW: The total loss of NOAA’s office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research —a nerve center of global climate science, data collection and modeling — represents a setback for climate preparedness that experts warn the nation may never recover from.
By @abrahm.bsky.social
By @abrahm.bsky.social
Reposted by deb
But bravery is contagious.
There are people who think "maybe I should do something" who will look left and will look right, and if they don't see people doing things, they'll sit back down.
Make sure that they see people doing things.
There are people who think "maybe I should do something" who will look left and will look right, and if they don't see people doing things, they'll sit back down.
Make sure that they see people doing things.
April 21, 2025 at 12:10 AM
But bravery is contagious.
There are people who think "maybe I should do something" who will look left and will look right, and if they don't see people doing things, they'll sit back down.
Make sure that they see people doing things.
There are people who think "maybe I should do something" who will look left and will look right, and if they don't see people doing things, they'll sit back down.
Make sure that they see people doing things.
Reposted by deb
A week ago, the Trump administration laid off thousands of people at HHS and its agencies.
The cuts were so deep, and touched so much, we're still learning about the impacts.
Here are a couple stories that have stood out to me.
1) @levfacher.bsky.social on the gutting of a pain-research office.
The cuts were so deep, and touched so much, we're still learning about the impacts.
Here are a couple stories that have stood out to me.
1) @levfacher.bsky.social on the gutting of a pain-research office.
Unique pain research office eliminated in HHS purge
Pain is the most costly chronic health problem in the U.S. In latest RIFs at NIH, an entire division devoted to pain research was closed down.
www.statnews.com
April 9, 2025 at 2:22 AM
A week ago, the Trump administration laid off thousands of people at HHS and its agencies.
The cuts were so deep, and touched so much, we're still learning about the impacts.
Here are a couple stories that have stood out to me.
1) @levfacher.bsky.social on the gutting of a pain-research office.
The cuts were so deep, and touched so much, we're still learning about the impacts.
Here are a couple stories that have stood out to me.
1) @levfacher.bsky.social on the gutting of a pain-research office.
Reposted by deb
NEW: Yesterday, the Justice Department sent armed marshals to warn former U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer not to disclose internal DOJ information during her Senate testimony.
Today, Oyer is speaking out to condemn the DOJ’s actions and defend the rule of law.
Today, Oyer is speaking out to condemn the DOJ’s actions and defend the rule of law.
April 7, 2025 at 8:47 PM
NEW: Yesterday, the Justice Department sent armed marshals to warn former U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer not to disclose internal DOJ information during her Senate testimony.
Today, Oyer is speaking out to condemn the DOJ’s actions and defend the rule of law.
Today, Oyer is speaking out to condemn the DOJ’s actions and defend the rule of law.
Reposted by deb
I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired.
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
March 21, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired.
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
Reposted by deb
I believe the firings and the AI have the same purpose: to get humans out of the loop of evaluating contracts. To automate the process of spending government money. To rig up a computer that sends taxpayer dollars directly to the broligarchy.
March 21, 2025 at 10:58 PM
I believe the firings and the AI have the same purpose: to get humans out of the loop of evaluating contracts. To automate the process of spending government money. To rig up a computer that sends taxpayer dollars directly to the broligarchy.
Reposted by deb
The reason the IRS has no data-leaking API is not because they don't know how to schedule a "hackathon." Instead it's because the API:
1. Likely violates the Privacy Act of 1974
2. Is not within the IRS's mandate
3. Would be a huge target for attacks against the privacy of all Americans
1. Likely violates the Privacy Act of 1974
2. Is not within the IRS's mandate
3. Would be a huge target for attacks against the privacy of all Americans
SCOOP: DOGE is hosting a “hackathon” in DC next week with the goal of building one “mega API” for accessing all IRS data.
Palantir has been brought up as a potential partner.
www.wired.com/story/doge-h...
Palantir has been brought up as a potential partner.
www.wired.com/story/doge-h...
DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data
DOGE operatives have repeatedly referred to the software company Palantir as a possible partner in creating a “mega API” at the IRS, sources tell WIRED.
www.wired.com
April 5, 2025 at 7:17 PM
The reason the IRS has no data-leaking API is not because they don't know how to schedule a "hackathon." Instead it's because the API:
1. Likely violates the Privacy Act of 1974
2. Is not within the IRS's mandate
3. Would be a huge target for attacks against the privacy of all Americans
1. Likely violates the Privacy Act of 1974
2. Is not within the IRS's mandate
3. Would be a huge target for attacks against the privacy of all Americans
Reposted by deb
Via @abreezeclayton.bsky.social, here's a tool to find out if your vote is on the list of those being challenged in North Carolina, along with instructions on what you can do next/who to contact re: ballot curing.
Please share widely, especially if you're in North Carolina
Please share widely, especially if you're in North Carolina
April 4, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Via @abreezeclayton.bsky.social, here's a tool to find out if your vote is on the list of those being challenged in North Carolina, along with instructions on what you can do next/who to contact re: ballot curing.
Please share widely, especially if you're in North Carolina
Please share widely, especially if you're in North Carolina
Reposted by deb
Researchers at Annenberg and @umdscience.bsky.social show that proposed NIH funding cuts lead to an estimated $16 billion in economic loss and 68,000 jobs lost nationwide. Learn about their project and view the interactive map here:
Data-Driven, Interactive Map Shows Local Economic Impact of Cuts to Federal Funding for Health Research
www.asc.upenn.edu
April 3, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Researchers at Annenberg and @umdscience.bsky.social show that proposed NIH funding cuts lead to an estimated $16 billion in economic loss and 68,000 jobs lost nationwide. Learn about their project and view the interactive map here:
Reposted by deb
Bank of America is engaged in wishful thinking about tariffs. This isn't about negotiations, this is about mercantilism, cronyism, and oligarchy.
Bank of America looks on the bright side: "The announced tariffs are more likely a starting point for negotiations...Recession risks remain low given the apparent willingness to negotiate the tariffs lower."
April 3, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Bank of America is engaged in wishful thinking about tariffs. This isn't about negotiations, this is about mercantilism, cronyism, and oligarchy.
Reposted by deb
Reposted by deb
Trump and RFK Jr. just illegally terminated $11 billion in critical public health grants, including more than $250 million to Minnesota.
Today, I co-led a coalition of 23 states suing to stop these cuts and keep people safe. Here's my statement on this illegal action.
Today, I co-led a coalition of 23 states suing to stop these cuts and keep people safe. Here's my statement on this illegal action.
April 1, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Trump and RFK Jr. just illegally terminated $11 billion in critical public health grants, including more than $250 million to Minnesota.
Today, I co-led a coalition of 23 states suing to stop these cuts and keep people safe. Here's my statement on this illegal action.
Today, I co-led a coalition of 23 states suing to stop these cuts and keep people safe. Here's my statement on this illegal action.